Late at Night
by reraimu
Summary: It was time to come home. Unfortunately, Cloud was too late. Terribly, terribly late. CloTi Angst mini-story
1. Chapter 1

**Tweekerz A/N:**

** I would have never, ever, ever, ever, ever thought that I'd be writing for the FF fandom. Seriously. Never.**

******CloTi just draws me in soooo much. I absolutely love this pairing. Strange…because I'm an avid slash lover, and FF is filled to the brim with beautiful bi-shounen boys…**  


**Warning: Angst**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it, never will. **

* * *

_Cloud, where are you?_

**Delete.**

_Hey, why haven't you called back?_

**Delete. **

_It's Marlene's birthday. She misses you._

**Delete.**

_I'm worried. Please…please, just call me okay? Just call me._

**Delete.**

_Wherever you are, please know that I'll—we'll be waiting here for you. Come home._

**Delete.**

_CLOUD, p-please! Answer your damn phone, pick up, pick up! _

**Delete. Delete. Delete. Delete.**

Nimble fingers tapped frantically along the glowing pads riddled across the cell phone, each voice message permanently erased as Cloud went down the list. He repeated the action until his thumb practically throbbed with a dull ache, until the white paint on the 7 button came away chipped and faded. With a weary sigh, Cloud snapped his cell shut and shoved it into his pant's pocket, eager to forget about the device entirely.

All those messages had been frantic pleas and concerned inquiries from the rag-tag team of fighters he liked to call his friends. He didn't like the fact that most of those voicemails were from Tifa.

He frowned, rubbing a hand through the blond spiky strands of his hair. He usually never bothered checking his messages, knowing that Tifa's distressed pleas to come home would forever engrave in his mind and further make him pull away from the world, from the warped reality he was cloaked in. Maybe that's why he never bothered listening to the messages to begin with—he didn't want to hear her voice, not like that.

The last remaining message in his inbox had been from Yuffie; she had sounded distressed in the message, her voice tapering away, but Cloud knew it was a farce. Yuffie tended to call and leave him cryptic messages, the kind that sounded urgent but in truth were only counterfeit—fake enough to get him to come home. He had fallen for it once. She was young, that much he knew, and she was still a bit mental, in a teenage sense of the word. Yuffie's memo had been the last, but that was over five months ago. After that final voicemail, he hadn't received a single phone call or message since.

In a way, he was rather relieved to know they wouldn't be calling him any longer, particularly Tifa, who's voice always seemed laced with disappointment when she called. He briefly wondered why she hadn't called him yet. It wasn't like her to just stop calling, regardless if he didn't respond.

'_It's a good thing_,' he reassured himself, leaning into Fenrir.

Tifa had stopped calling; she needn't worry any longer.

Maybe she had finally given up on him.

* * *

**Tweekerz A/N:**

**- Here's the first chapter. Agh. Please leave a review!**


	2. Chapter 2

She was perched on the couch, fiddling with the sleek ends of Marlene's hair, braiding the glossy tresses until the end of the braid tapered into a vivacious curl. Tifa tied the braid off with a bright blue bow, drawing away from the child who sat happily in front of her, doodling away with her crayons. Tifa affectionately patted Marlene's head, the young girl turning around and smiling cheerfully at the elder.

"It looks pretty," Marlene exclaimed, inspecting her braid. Glee glittered in the child's eyes.

"I did a pretty good job this time, didn't I?" Tifa laughed, leaning back against the couch. "You should show Denzel." In that instant, Marlene's smile dissolved into a solemn frown, the expression looking oddly distorted on her usually chipper face. A profound silence seemed to heavily shroud the two girls, until Marlene finally decided to break the stillness.

"Denzel never comes down anymore."

Tifa's breath hitched, averting her eyes from Marlene's imploring stare.

"He's sad, Marlene," Tifa whispered, ushering the girl to sit on her lap. Marlene forlornly nodded her head and took a tepid seat on Tifa's lap, her head resting against the crook of the elder's neck.

"I miss Cloud," Marlene spoke softly.

Tifa choked.

"Me too."


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a week since he had erased the contents in his voicemail inbox, and he would often catch himself checking his phone for any updates—anything really: missed phone calls, texts, even the dreaded voice message, however none came.

Usually his inbox would be packed with voicemails comprising of the occasional scathing insult and guilt trip on Yuffie's end. The ninja never missed an opportunity to give him an earful on Tifa's behalf.

Again, that was five months ago.

He still hadn't received a message since. Why had they all stopped calling? Had they all given up on him then? Maybe he had been gone for far too long this time. They were still waiting for him to come home, weren't they?

Cloud hunched his shoulders and let a grim frown capture his lips. With a nod of his head, he revved Fenrir, the back wheel spitting out rubble and dirt, and sped off.

Home was waiting.


	4. Chapter 4

After putting the children to bed, Tifa clambered down the stairs, a fleece blanket wrapped snuggly around her shoulders. She shivered as her bare feet came in contact with the frigid wooden floorboards, and she went about the living room as she usually did at night. She turned off the lights and made sure the stove was off in the kitchen, and after performing these nightly rituals, Tifa padded across the premise and ventured towards the front door.

She placed her hand on the knob and gently turned it, the door propping open as a gust of wind ushered through. Tifa huddled in on herself, opening the door a little wider as she peered out into the night, her gaze anchoring on the glittering night sky above. The moon shone with a splendor she wasn't accustomed to—she was feeling too putout to marvel at it.

Was Cloud staring up into the night sky like she was? Was he staring at the same exact star, was he feeling the same frigid chill of the wind against his pale skin? She hoped he was somewhere out there, safe and sound, far away from any peril. He didn't deserve any more turmoil, he didn't deserve to feel any more pain, even though she could feel the stinging well of hurt swelling in her breast.

If only he could just realize how good he had it here with her and the children. He had a home to return to, he had a best friend to lean on, and two of the most amazing children to coddle and adore. What was wrong with them—what was wrong with her?

She eyed a shadowed figure that walked about the street a little ways away. The stranger turned to her and waved, a smile across his lips. The glint of a silver ring caught against the light emitting from the lamp on the porch step. Tifa smiled and nodded, before shutting the door close behind her.

Tomorrow would be a better day. If that man could smile, so could she


	5. Chapter 5

He pressed himself against the window, the cool glass biting at his exposed skin. He brought the mug of coffee to his lips, letting the hot liquid rush into his mouth and flood down his throat. The café he was nestled in was warm and comfortable enough, the aroma of coffee invading his senses.

Two days had passed after he had ultimately decided to head back to the city of Edge. He had stopped at a bordering town to spend the night in, enough time to get his wits together and prepare himself for the barrage of insults he was sure to get hurdled with tomorrow. The café had been a plus, practically begging him to enter. He was glad he did.

If he woke up early enough, he could head out and resume his trip, and by late morning tomorrow, he would hit his destination. Cloud took one final sip of his coffee, gently lowering the ceramic to the table with a small clink.

He promptly stood from his seat and left the small coffee shop.


	6. Chapter 6

Tifa awoke to the creaking of a door.

It had been faint a sound, as if it had come from downstairs. She groggily sat up in her bed, sleep still laced about her vision, before she tiredly rubbed at her eyes with her hands. She looked out her window, noting that it was still dark outside. With a languid yawn, Tifa threw her legs over the edge of her bed and stood up, kicking her slippers on as she trudged across her bedroom and exited into the dark hallway.

As a precaution, she peeped in both Marlene and Denzel's rooms, reprieve flooding through her when she found them both snuggled cozily in their beds. Carefully shutting their doors, Tifa approached the stairs guardedly, her feet making small, tepid thumps as she made her way down.

She halted when she heard the thud of a boot skid across the floor of the bar, and she nearly broke out into a smile. Her heart fluttered flippantly in her chest, thoughts of Cloud instantly flitting past her vision.

He was home- he was finally home! It wasn't surprising that he had chosen such a late time to come back to them, but that's how it usually worked anyway. He would leave, then come back at the most ungodly hour of the night.

She felt as if her heart would burst from her chest and flutter away into the night, never to return to her. What would he say to her, what would she say? Tifa placed an unsteady palm to her chest, willing her heart to slow. She needed to be calm—she needed to be collected; if she showed him anything but, she would surely break upon seeing him.

Taking a deep breath, Tifa slowly descended the rest of the stairs, her trembling hand trailing down the banister. When she finally set foot upon the last step, she looked up and stared across the living room towards the bar, an eager smile to her lips.

Tifa froze.

The man standing there leaning across the counter was not Cloud.

The figure was shadowed and immense, his clothes black in color. Cloud often wore black, but never like this. The man leisurely straightened himself and turned to her, a ghost of a smile stretching across his lips. His teeth were off white, Tifa noted in alarm, a pallid color that nearly spanned the expanse of his broad face. The stranger waved at her, and the glint of a ring shone through the darkness.

Tifa's breath stopped, her heart palpitating at an unruly speed.

This person wasn't Cloud.

**This. Person. Wasn't. Cloud.**

She refused to scream—she didn't want to alert the children who would surely scramble down to look for her. She couldn't endanger them like that, not when this…this stranger was standing in her house in the middle of the night.

Tifa stood there in her loose pajamas, not a weapon on her to defend herself if need be. She didn't need any weapons- she could do just enough damage with her fists.

The man slowly lifted his hand, and Tifa wondered, _what is he doing, what is going to do, why is he doing that_, and when his hand finally landed at the waistband of his jeans, Tifa cried out and lurched forward, an instinctive motion that would regrettably not do her justice.

She knew what he was about to do, had expected it.

Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough.

A single shot rocketed through the night, and Tifa's wondered why it suddenly hurt so much.


	7. Chapter 7

Cloud tossed and turned in his sleep, his eyes aching beneath his eyelids. He wasn't yet captured in the lulling doze of slumber, and he desperately wanted to succumb to sleep, could practically feel it dancing along his eyelids, but it never came.

He opened his eyes, his vision growing accustomed to the dark, and stared out the inn's meager window, a thin film of frost ghosting across the glass.

The faster he got to sleep, the faster he reached home.


	8. Chapter 8

She was lying on the floor. She briefly heard the shattering of glass and the ding of the register being opened, and in the next instant, she heard the front door open and shut close.

He was gone. The man was gone.

Her breathing was labored, she realized, and she pressed a shaky hand to her stomach, her palm coming away warm and slick. She looked at her hand—it seemed so strange to her now, covered in rivulets of vermilion, stained with smears of red. Her eyes widened, her mouth falling open as her body shuddered in realization.

She had been shot.

Tifa struggled to sit up, but when she did, a white-hot pain exploded in her gut and she was forced back to the ground, her head knocking against the floorboards. It hurt to breath, it hurt to move, and when she tried calling out for help, _anybody, please, help me, __**help me**__,_ all that came out was a garbled noise that sounded foreign to her.

Red teemed from her lips and dribbled down her chin, pooling at the indent of her collarbone. It felt warm and sticky, and the feel of the gooey substance sliding down her throat made her want to scream.

She was convulsing now, half-hearted whimpers emerging from her throat as she tried to quell the swell of tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.

"Tifa?"

"Tifa?"

She heard their worried whispers in the night as they trudged through the hallway. Their hasty footsteps clambered down the stairs until they stopped.

Marlene screamed.

"Tifa!" the child choked, a wrangled sob sounding from her throat. Tifa could feel the vibrations of Marlene's small feet sprint across the room, until the girl was kneeling by Tifa's side. The child's weeping and blubbering form was barely registered. Tifa's world was spinning, her eyes momentarily rolling up into her head. She wanted to press Marlene to her chest and whisper soothing words of comfort, she wanted to tell the child that she was alright, that she just hurt a bit, but she would be fine. They were lies, but Marlene didn't need to know that.

Marlene pressed her small hands to Tifa's cheeks, shaking the woman who was slipping in and out of consciousness. Heart wrenching sobs ripped from the little girl's mouth, her horrified shriek's thundering through Tifa's ears.

This was a dream, this had to be a dream.

It was a nightmare.

"Tifa! You're bleeding, oh my—Tifa!" Marlene was sobbing uncontrollably now, her screams and cries echoing about the bar.

"I'm gonna' get h-help, I'm gonna'- Marlene!" Denzel cried frantically. Marlene was shaking her head side to side, her cheeks flushed red as tears washed down her face. The poor girl didn't know what to do with herself; her hands were suspended in mid air as her tiny body wracked with sobs and wilting cries. She was incoherent, Tifa noted.

Denzel rushed over to them and knelt by Tifa's side, his eyes misting. It felt as if someone were twisting his heart and squeezing it. Snapping out of his haze, Denzel pressed both his hands atop Marlene's shoulders and shook her.

"Marlene!" he yelled, the girl's cries only rising in volume.

"Denzel, she's not talking. Tifa's not talking! She'sbleedingshe'sbleedingshe'sbleeding!" Marlene blubbered, strands of hair sticking to her wet face.

"Marlene, stop!" Denzel nearly screamed, his voice bellowing about the bar. The grip on her shoulders tightened and Marlene snapped her head up to meet his bewildered stare, her own eyes quivering.

"I'm gonna' go get help, okay? I'm gonna' go get someone right now. You have to stay with Tifa, stay with her Marlene—Marlene! Just stay with her okay?" Denzel hastily cried, tears falling freely down his cheeks. He pressed a sloppy kiss to her cheek, squeezing her in a tight hug before he stood up and whirled around. "I need her cell, where's her cell?"

Tifa could hear Denzel's hurried footsteps taper away until she couldn't hear them anymore. Tifa choked when Marlene draped her frail arms around the elder's neck, the little girl's front smearing against the red that still dribbled down Tifa's chin. Her vision swam, her breaths growing hurried as her chest constricted.

She couldn't breath, she was bleeding and she couldn't breath.

Marlene drew away, tears still trailing freely down her cheeks. "Tifa, please don't die! Tifa!"

Tifa heard Denzel shouting in the background, spewing something about an ambulance. He had probably located her cell phone. Then she heard an entirely different conversation.

"_Barret, she was shot, she was shot! She's bleeding and s-she, I can't, I don't know what to do-."_ Denzel erupted into a fit of sobs.

Tifa willed her eyes open, fixating her flickering gaze on Marlene. She felt sluggish now, as if she were wading through a pool of molasses. Her breaths were slower, more deliberate, and she felt as if her body were sinking into the earth. She grabbed for Marlene's hand, slinking her pinky around the girls own. She smiled and whispered, "I…I won't die, sweety. I promise."

Tifa never lived up to that promise.


	9. Chapter 9

He was on Fenrir, the wind whipping ferociously at his hair, his clothes fluttering against the breeze. He would reach Edge in 10 minutes, he estimated, his fingers revving the engine hard.

Trees and more trees passed him by, blurring against his peripheral as the city stretched ahead, buildings looming eerily amid the overcast sky. He could practically smell the familiar scent of alcohol on the air, the smell of 7th Heaven, the smell of Tifa on the wind. What would she say to him after all this time? Was she still willing to let him in her home again?

He sped through the harrowing, bustling streets of Edge, ignoring the mystified looks random passerby threw him. He shot past corners and sped through stop signs, adrenaline fusing through his veins, or perhaps that was just the Mako?

Finally, there, he could see it—7th Heaven.

He was home, he was finally home. He didn't even know why he was so eager to see them all again, to see her again. Hadn't he been reluctant before?

He nearly leapt off Fenrir when he finally parked the motorcycle beside the building, stopping short when he saw a well-known face standing at the threshold of the bar, handling a rather heavy looking cardboard box.

What was Yuffie doing here? Had Tifa invited her over…?

"Hey Barret, where do you want this box at?" the teen yipped, grunting when she shifted her weight to adjust her grip on the box.

"Yuffie?" Cloud called out.

He didn't expect her to drop the box she had been holding. He didn't expect her to freeze in place, her eyes widening generously as her arms fell limp at her sides. The Wutai ninja stared across at him, as if she was staring at a ghost, her pale skin even paler than usual.

"C-Cloud?" she breathed, her voice cracking. In the next instant, the teen had dashed from her spot and came sprinting towards him, a cloud of dust trailing behind her. Cloud tensed and shut his eyes, expecting the worse, but when a pair of arms slid around his neck, he willed his eyes open and stared down at Yuffie, who was busy hugging the daylights out of him. He really wasn't expecting that.

"We thought you had died Cloud Strife!" she whispered speedily, her arms tightening around his neck. "We didn't know where you were, we were so worried, why didn't you ever call back?"

Her voice had risen in volume and she was no longer holding him. She took a step back and placed a hand to her slender hip, cocking her head and fixing him a curt glare. A moment of silence passed with just the two of them looking at each other, until a small hidden smile parted across the teen's lips. She walked over to him and punched him playfully on the shoulder.

"You really had us worried," she repeated, her voice lilting.

"Barret's inside if you wanna' say hi," she added. "He's sort of fixing the place up, haha."

Fixing? Did the bar need fixing? He couldn't imagine Tifa letting the bar waste away—it was her home, his home—their home.

"Oh," Cloud mumbled, taking a step towards the front door. "Is, uhh…Tifa in there by any chance?"

In that instant, it seemed like the entire world had gone still. Yuffie stared at him with a bemused expression, her brow furrowed and a wholly unpleasant expression on her face. She looked affronted.

"Cloud, it's too soon for that," she whispered, staring forlornly at the bar's marquee that hung from a set of chains strapped to the wall.

"Wait, what?" Cloud quipped, lifting a brow.

"Just stop it, please, it isn't funny," Yuffie pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "I can't believe you would even joke around right now."

Okay, now he was really confused. He had absolutely no idea what Yuffie was talking about. Too soon? Too soon for what? He was never a joker; he was the sort of person that unfortunately lacked a sense of humor. He wasn't here to play twenty questions with a teenaged ninja.

"Look, I just want to know if Tifa's inside," he repeated slowly, cautiously. He had a feeling that something was amiss. "I haven't seen her in a while and…I just don't want to suddenly burst in on her."

"Oh my God."

Cloud took a step back, not at all pleased by the look of horror plastered across Yuffie's face. She stared at him incredulously, her mouth gaping open in alarm.

"Y-you…you don't know?" she asked, her eyes averting to the floor. She looked back up again, anchoring her gaze on his. She must have read the look of utter confusion on his face, for she backed away and put a hand to her chest. "Oh my god, you don't know."

"What don't I know?" Cloud queried, irritation clearly in his voice.

"How can you not know, C-cloud!" she nearly shouted, her voice cracking. Tears welled in her eyes as she took a shaky breath. Realization hit her like a ton of bricks. "You didn't check your messages. You never received the…m-message. You never…you never…oh my God. Oh my God."

"Yuffie, what's this about, why are you- ?" Cloud cut in, clearly growing worried. It wasn't like Yuffie to suddenly turn frantic out of the blue. The teenager was a happy-go-lucky girl, the type of person that had been born with optimism running through her veins.

"I'm s-so sorry, Cloud. I'm so, **so** s-sorry," she hiccupped as she began to sob, pressing her hand to her mouth. "I can't—I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Yuffie, what the hell's goin' on down there?" Barret's voice boomed from within. The brawny black man appeared at the threshold, eyes widening at a bemused looking Cloud and a sobbing Yuffie.

"Well, hey boy! Glad to know you're still alive!" Barret quipped. He turned from Cloud and headed over to Yuffie, pressing a hand to her back. "What's wrong, I didn't know you'd be this happy to see Chocobo-boy again."

"Barrett, he doesn't know!" she nearly screamed, pointing at Cloud with a shaky finger. "N-no one _–sob-_ ever told him, he never knew _–sob-…_after all this time…"

Yuffie sunk to the floor, her knees scraping against the asphalt. Barrett's eyes seemed to go hollow, the man staring blankly at Cloud.

"I don't understand what you guys are talking about!" Cloud growled, his fingers tightening into fists at his sides. "I don't understand- .!"

"Tifa is dead, Cloud! She died five months ago."


	10. Chapter 10

"What—no," Cloud breathed, his breath hitching. He took a step back, his brow furrowed and his lips pursed. "Stop joking around Yuffie."

"I'm not!" she yelled, shaking her head. "I'm not, I swear to God Cloud, I'm not. Barret—tell him!"

"It's true," Barret replied solemnly, his voice grave. "She's dead. No matter how many times I don't wanna' believe it, she's dead. After all these months…"

No, no. That couldn't be right. Yuffie didn't know what she was talking about, Barret didn't either.

"Someone broke into the bar," Yuffie hiccupped, smearing her tears across her cheeks. "They shot her, they just shot her and l-left her there to die. They just left her there!"

This wasn't possible, none of this was possible. Cloud backed away from them. They were clearly telling him lies, just so that they could get back at him for being gone so long. There was no way that she…there was no way that Tifa could be, that she could be…dead?

Tifa was strong. She was strong and loyal and his best friend. She had a smile that could literally brighten up the world around her, a will so valiant and powerful that there was no way that she could just be dead. Just like that? No, it wasn't possible.

Cloud didn't react when Yuffie finally got up from the ground and hugged him tightly around the waist, her tears seeping into his clothing with each shaky breath she took. It felt as if he were in a different body, watching as Barret came over and grabbed him by the shoulder, as they both helped him get past the threshold and step into the bar that reeked of collecting dust.

They sat him down on a nearby wooden chair, Yuffie taking his hands into her own.

"I'm so sorry, Cloud," she breathed, tears glistening along her cheeks. "I thought you had known, we all thought you knew…I should have kept on calling, I should have- ."

Her voice trailed away, not because she had stopped talking, but because he didn't want to hear her any longer. He felt dizzy, he noted, the world taking a spin across his vision as he fought to gain his balance. He felt as if his brain had locked up, rendering his thoughts, his emotions, useless. What was he supposed to say, what was he supposed to think?

Vivid images of a smile filtered past his vision, much akin to a glowing filmstrip, images of Tifa laughing, smiling, of her pecking kisses on Marlene's cheek when she put the children to bed. What had he been doing when she died? Where had he been while she lay bleeding on the floor?

Yuffie interrupted his reverie. "Would you like to visit her grave?"


End file.
